>> it was the dna. it was the cigarette butts. so, once again, at any crime scene, it's very crucial, very crucial to do a good job and collect all the evidence. and most crimes, most crimes are and most crimes, most crimes are solved by the physical evidence. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news overnight. the united states moving to end russia's armed invasion of ukraine. secretary of state john kerry arriving in kiev in just hours, threatening severe sanctions if moscow doesn't pull its military out. new this morning, the standoff intensifies as russian troops are on the move. we're bringing you live team coverage of what's happening and what happened new overnight. all right, news back home. an historic deep freeze moving across the country. millions waking up to near record low temperatures. it's march, folks, and schools are shut down, roads an icy mess. indra petersons is tracking the storm for us. happening right now,

dramatic testimony against an olympic hero accused of murdering his model girlfriend. witnesses taking the stand with tales of blood-curdling screams. we are live. >> all right, good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." a lot going on this morning. i'm john berman. >> and i'm christine romans. it's tuesday, march 4th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. and we do begin with breaking news. this deals with the ukraine crisis. i should tell you, we are awaiting word from president vladimir putin of russia. he's expected to speak any minute. meanwhile, in ukraine, there's been a tense standoff this morning at a crimean air base. you're looking at it right here. russian soldiers firing in the air, as apparently, unarmed ukrainian troops approached. they were, we think, asking to negotiate. armed soldiers are now surrounding security installations throughout crimea, and warships do remain shouting,

the president holding the a late-night meeting as the administration has begun cutting ties with russia, canceling military exercises and is said to be planning against top officials. secretary kerry right now on his way to kiev. you can see him departing from andrews air force base in maryland. he will meet with ukraine's interim government to try to find some way out of this crisis. our diana magnay is live in crimea. diana, we've been looking at the pictures of the standoff between ukrainian and, apparently, russian troops. what's the latest? >> reporter: hi, john. well, we know from the commander of that military air base that the russians have been making an ultimatum to ukrainian forces to surrender and they've given them a deadline of 12:00 noon, which is now, and they haven't surrendered. now, let me add, these deadlines have come and gone before. nothing has happened. we were all expecting something at 5:00 a.m. this morning when we heard via one news report that there would be a military

storm if the ukrainian forces in crimea didn't surrender. that didn't happen. i'm at a military base. it's fairly quiet, but it would just take one miscalculation and things could escalate and get pretty bad, john. >> it's avoiding those miscalculations, that is what is so crucial here. all right, diana magnay for us in crimea this morning. again, we are awaiting word from russian president vladimir putin. that could come at any minute. >> meantime, the russians claim the president has now ended military drills along the ukrainian border, ordering those soldiers back to their bases, but ukraine says it's not true, and they still see troops there. phil black is live in moscow where putin is expected to speak at any minute. phil, what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, russian officials say they're pleased with the results of these combat military -- combat readiness exercises that were ordered by president putin. he issued these orders after the change of government in ukraine but before russian forces started fanning out across crimea and controlling that

region of ukraine. these drills, these war games, they were huge, 150,000 soldiers, huge amounts of hardware, including up to 900 tanks, and there were concerns that this could evolve into some sort of large-scale military incursion or even an invasion into ukraine, but it now seems pretty clear they're being conducted entirely separately to the ongoing military operation in crimea. those drilling forces, they have now been ordered back to barracks, but in crimea, there are no reports of the russian forces there changing the positions that they are occupying. no sign that they are falling back or pulling out of that region at all. and as you say, we are expecting to hear from president vladimir putin any moment. this will be significant, because it is the first time he will have made public statements since this operation began in crimea. >> phil, do we have any idea what he plans to say or what he's going to use these remarks to sort of frame the situation? >> reporter: we don't know precisely why he has decided to

speak now, no, and not in the days leading up to this, because really, his silence has been quite notable. we can only assume that he's going to continue to mount what has been the russian government argument for justifying this action, which is that russia believes is acting out of humanitarian interests, to protect the human rights, it says, of russian citizens, russian speakers, those who identify culturally with russia in those southern and eastern regions of ukraine, because russian officials say -- we heard it as eventually as last night at the u.n. security council -- that there are now ultranationalists, armed gangs of ukrainian extremists who are threatening the safety, the lives of those russian citizens, those ethnic russian peoples in those ukrainian regions. >> all right, phil black. thank you so much, phil, for that. we'll check back with you. we're waiting for putin to speak at any moment. as reports came in that russian troops ended their military exercises near parts of the ukraine border, the global markets recovered. stocks in asia closed mostly

higher tuesday. european stock markets all higher right now as well. and u.s. stock futures, they're showing a triple-digit gain after monday's very ugly losses. the price of oil and gold, wheat and corn all lower this morning. remember, yesterday's huge run-up in those prices as tensions escalated over the ukraine/russia crisis. and now this morning you're hearing money managers and market experts saying they expect volatility in the near term. that means you could see big moves one day to the next, but they think the u.s. bull market won't be stopped, ultimately, by the crisis in ukraine, as long as it doesn't get worse. now, u.s. exports to ukraine, $2 billion a year, exports to russia, $10 billion a year. the most damage could be to europe's economy if this thing escalates. russia a major energy supplier for europe. remember, that region is only beginning to emerge from a long recession. >> and europe dependent on russia, which is why many of these european countries seem to be dragging their feet right now to implement some of the sanctions that the united states might like to see. >> and russia dependent on europe. it needs to be paid for the gas it gives them.

the russian economy has been moving, you know, in a negative way, i would say, over the past six months or so. they need each other. >> and a lot happened in russia yesterday. the market's staggering losses. >> unbelievable. >> but the price of oil and gas going up, which does benefit russia. >> right. >> they may be able to survive this for some time. >> a lot of pieces on this chess board. >> indeed. happening today back in washington, president obama set to unveil his 2015 budget proposal, complete with tens of billions of dollars in additional spending for education, job training, also the military. the proposal does call for extending some tax breaks to lower-income americans, the earned income tax credit. the benefits would be paid for by closing loopholes for higher paid workers, ones they use often to reduce their tax burdens. meanwhile, the pentagon's budget proposal will detail those much-discussed cuts to the army. that will reduce the troop levels to their lowest amount since before world war ii. defense secretary chuck hagel today plans to outline how the military will instead use its $500 billion budget to expand

cyber warfare capabilities and develop other high-tech weapons. >> but these cuts very, very controversial now in light of what's happening in ukraine. meanwhile, final, new rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gases coming from cars and trucks. the epa is putting the finishing touches on regulations requiring refineries to cut sulfur levels in gasoline by 2017. this also forces lawmakers to change their vehicles to reduce tailpipe emissions. the epa and some environmental groups call it a win for planet earth, but the oil industry says the new rules will drive up costs for everyone. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, continues his trip to the u.s. today with a speech before the american/israeli public affairs committee, a day after meeting with president obama at the white house, where the two discussed middle east peace efforts and iran's nuclear program. they showed little sign of finding common ground on those issues. netanyahu is likely to bring those topics up during his speech today. more calls today for protests in venezuela from jailed opposition leader leopoldo lopez. the harvard-educated politician

telling supporters in a video message to not give up their fight to remove president nicolas maduro from power. his government calls the protests dangerous disruptions of public order. we could be seeing history today for much of the country, historic cold temperatures from the midwest to the south. lows today may barely hit zero, their lowest point in more than 100 years. we could see new records from virginia to new york city. no relief yet in tennessee, where snow and ice dragged down trees and power lines in many places. look at that. these pictures are from memphis where some 15,000 customers still have no power this morning. >> oh, my goodness. >> and for others, it could be some time before things get back to normal. >> they're telling me it's going to be days before it's back on. >> i've got a gas fireplace and i'm fixing a fire with a generator and turning on the electric heater. >> this ice storm has caused so much damage to so many people. >> in virginia, the fast-falling snow meant accidents on the roads. these pictures from richmond,

the richmond area, hit by just a few inches of snow, but that was enough to send these cars just spinning. and officials warning this morning, it could be even worse, as the snow freezes into ice. crews were out all night treating those roads. near louisville, kentucky, this beer truck, wow, wound up off the road. look at that. light beer for miller. after sliding and spinning out on interstate 65, one of dozens of accidents reported because of the snow. so many schools in the washington, d.c., area are opening late this morning or they're closed again because of the icy roads, refreezing after yesterday's snowfall. the federal government will be opening two hours late this morning. and look at this picture. this comes from a weather satellite. that shows the great lengths. they're now more than 90% dmoferd ice. look at that picture! this is the most ice these lakes have seen in some 20 years, almost completely covered. beautiful. >> wow! indra petersons is tracking this cold. that picture is gorgeous, but it's a sign of what we've all

endured. and when will it all end? >> that's a good question, right? because it looks like another week filled with these temperatures that continue to go way down. we're talking about this cold arctic air, this jet stream diving all the way down even to the southeast again. so, look at this. these temperatures this morning, seeing a lot of single digits out there. detroit just 4 degrees, indianapolis 8, even all the way into the northeast just some teens. burlington without a windchill feeling at subzero, 6 below this morning. we're talking about temperatures all the way, even to the southeast, below freezing this morning. and we're actually, potentially here, going to have some record lows this morning. atlantic city actually had a record yesterday, not only for yesterday, but for the entire month of march already. not the way to start off. looks like detroit right now, current temperature 4, the record 5. we've already seen a record there. now, here is what we're expecting. look at this. as we go towards the afternoon, well below average. memphis 30 below where they should be. typical trend at this time of year, seems like at this point. this is what we've been seeing all season long, but not what we want to be seeing. 15 below tomorrow.

even tomorrow through chicago, things are not rebounding quick enough. keep in mind, this cold air's going so far south that even we're talk being in texas having an ice storm this morning. potentially austin seeing 0.1 to 0.25 inches of ice, houston, lake charles, louisiana. hello, it is mardi gras. we're supposed to have tank tops out, right? not so much. temperatures on the cool side, only in the 40s and some rain in the forecast for them. in fact, all across the gulf we're going to be talking about rain showers. not a happy mardi gras, guys. >> i can't imagine they'll be having any fun down there. there's just no way they'll be able to have fun. >> no idea how they're going to do it. >> indra, thank you very much. >> the umbrella doesn't go with my sequin outfit. >> if i had a nickel for every time i said that. happening now, drama on the witness stand, neighbors testify what they heard the night a model was shot to death inside her olympic boyfriend's home. we're live right after the break. [ woman ] i've always tried to see things from the best angle i could. it's how i look at life. especially now that i live

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♪ in south africa this morning, day two of the blockbuster murder trial of olympic sprinter oscar pistorius, accused of killing his girlfriend. the first witness, a neighbor, went back on the stand this morning, describing again the screams she heard the night of the shooting. nic robertson live for us in pretoria. nic, what's happening in the court right now? >> reporter: it's very dramatic, christine. just in the last few minutes, there's been discussion about how reeva steenkamp was shot, shot in the head. oscar pistorius in the dark there called for a box of tissues, given tissues to wipe his eyes, very emotional. but what we've heard, intense cross examination of this witness by the defense attorney representing oscar pistorius, questioning the statement that the witness had given to the police compared to what she said in the courtroom, at one point getting exasperated, saying "this is the eighth time i've asked you this question." the state prs interjected,

objected. the judge said no, the question hasn't been answered, directed the witness to answer properly. this is what she said to her snp. >> when counsel asks a question, you answer the question. otherwise, you will be in that witness box for another day and maybe tomorrow or the day thereafter. the quicker way to get out of that box is to answer exactly what counsel is asking. >> reporter: so, this seemed to undermine the witness. the witness also cross-examination, defense attorneys saying your statement is almost line by line like your husband's, then questioning her about the screaming, getting to the point -- and this is where it got really emotional -- saying that the screaming that you heard, you say you heard after the gunshots, that couldn't have happened because reeva steenkamp was shot in the head and she physically couldn't have screamed. and the defense attorney saying what you heard is oscar pistorius screaming because he

was so intense about the situation, screaming out of the window that directly faced on to this house. what you're hearing right now in the background is a sort of protest going on here that seems to be perhaps focused about what's happening in the courtroom. hard to say, but people here paying a huge amount of attention to the trial, and of course, very dramatic events unfolding, christine. >> yeah, i'll say. okay, glad we have you there following it for us and we'll check back with you soon. thanks, nic. quite a scene there. meanwhile, in new york, jury selection resumes in the terror trial of osama bin laden's son-in-law. suleman abu ghraib is one of the highest profile al qaeda defendants to face trial in the united states. he's charged with killing and threatening more violence days after the september 11th attacks. opening statements could come as early as tomorrow. all right, this morning, new jersey governor chris christie back in the spotlight, holding a town hall to talk about superstorm sandy relief funds while the federal investigation into bridgegate apparently

heating up. attorneys for former campaign manager bill stepien say he's now being investigated by federal agents for any role he may have had in the shutdown of the lanes on the george washington bridge. now, steppen has so far refused to turn over documents to state lawmakers. in phoenix this morning, a police officer is fighting for his life after a standoff and gunfire that left a fellow officer and a suspect dead. police say officers were trying to stop a man on an outstanding warrant when he hopped in a car, led them on a chase, crashed into other cars, then ran, leading to the shoot-out. none of the names of those involved have yet been named. in montana this morning, more than 300 miles of interstate 90 are closed because of the threat of avalanches. there were six minor slides already on monday. authorities are worried additional rain and snow could cause more. meanwhile, prosecutors in missoula are considering charges against a snowboarder who caused an avalanche that destroyed a house and killed a woman.

her husband still in the hospital. we're awaiting word from russian president vladimir putin. that could come any minute. meanwhile, coming up next for us, lebron james -- >> wow. >> the miami heat making history. >> wow. >> the new clear mask clearly did the trick. this could have been lebron james's best game ever! >> could have been? >> and that's saying a lot. >> i think it was. >> ever! >> it was. >> andy scholes will make the call for us next in the "bleacher report." life could be hectic. as a working mom of two young boys angie's list saves me a lot of time. after reading all the reviews i know i'm making the right choice. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job, and i don't have time for unreliable companies. angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive,

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all right, the nba's best player, lebron james, had the best game of his career last night. i mean, he was on fire. scorching the bobcats, 61 points. my 7-year-old came upstairs, he's like, omg, mom. andy scholes has more in this morning's "bleacher report." >> yeah, omg is right. this is why he's known as king james. when lebron's making shots like he is last night, he is the most unstoppable force the game of basketball has ever seen. in the third quarter alone last night, lebron poured in 25 points. he made his first eight 3-point attempts in the game and he finished with a career-high 61 points. his previous best was 56 back in 2005. this game was a clear statement from king james that he's not giving up his mvp award just yet to kevin durant. all right, jason collins, the nba's first openly gay athlete, played at home for the first time since signing with the brooklyn nets last night. in a pretty cool moment, the

fans at the barclays center started chanting his name late in the game, then gave him a standing ovation as he came off the bench. according to reports, the nets will sign collins to a second ten-day contract later today. trending right now on bleacherreport.com, fans in denver can exhale. peyton manning will be back in 2014. it was reported before the super bowl that win or lose, peyton's future depended on this offseason neck exam. doctors have given him the all clear to keep playing. breaking overnight, the u.s. men's soccer team says it will play against the ukraine tomorrow, but due to the political unrest in the country, the game has been moved from the ukraine to cypress. now, there was uncertainty that the game would go on at all. the ukraine football federation told a local tv station yesterday that the game was off, but the u.s. soccer team tweeted earlier this morning that they were on their way to the game. and guys, this is, you know, a pretty big deal. people are saying why not cancel the game altogether?

but they're 100 days away from the world cup and the u.s. team only has two tune-up games, this game being one of them. so, obviously, they would like to get on the field and play. and like i said, they'll try to play the game in cypress tomorrow. hopefully, it goes on as scheduled. >> the u.s. team needs the game for training, but those players on the ukraine team i think must have a lot on their minds right now. >> true. >> i hope they make whatever choice is right for them and their families, to be sure. all right, andy scholes, really appreciate it. all right, breaking news this morning, ukraine on the brink of war with russia. the world ready to step in. the russian president, vladimir putin, expected to speak at any moment. we're following it all live. we're going to bring it to you right after the break. [ garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there, but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can.

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happening right now, a tense military standoff in the streets of ukraine capturing the attention of the world. soldiers firing their guns overnight. secretary of state john kerry now hours away from arriving in ukraine, this as the world pressures russia to bring its troops home. we're expecting a statement from russian president vladimir putin any minute. we are bringing you live, team coverage as the situation intensifies this morning. all right, welcome back to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> yeah, those the first shots fired, i think, not fired at ukrainian soldiers, but fired in warning. i'm christine romans. it's 30 past the hour. let's get to the breaking news from ukraine, where we're seeing dramatic pictures of a standoff between russian and ukrainian forces. the russians firing in the air as ukrainian troops approached. apparently, these troops, these ukrainian troops, were asking to

negotiate. that as russian president vladimir putin has ordered troops along the border to head back to their bases. military exercises complete. he's expected at any moment now to speak. at the white house, president obama and his cabinet met late into the night to plan their next steps. the u.s. has now begun cutting ties with russia and preparing sanctions to level on some top russian officials. the secretary of state, john kerry, is expected to land in ukraine shortly to step up efforts at diplomacy. we have diana mag nay in crimea now with the very latest. diana, bring us up to speed. >> reporter: hi, christine. well, i'm in a military base just outside the capital simferopol. i'll step aside. it's pretty common now. we've seen the russian troops behind me, actually had conversation with their ukrainian counterparts. around all these bases, the russians asking the ukrainians to surrender their allegiance to kiev and to swear an oath of loyalty to the crimean premier.

and although we've heard reports in the russian press that they've done that, the ukrainian military of defense says this is just a russian ploy, no one has signed their allegiance to crimea. this just isn't true. you can see some troops moving around there. there are about 100 russian soldiers here, we think. you can see that, pretty well dug in. but we've seen fuel going from the ukrainian base to the russian field camp here, which gives you a sense of the good relations, presumably to fuel their generators. so, things are quite relaxed here. at that military base which wrote were talking to, shots were fired into the air. the russians are in control of that base. the ukrainians are trying to get it back, but so far, things are non nonconfrontational, not violent for now, but it would really just take one false move and things could go very badly wrong, christine. >> diana, so much in crimea right now. let's listen to vladimir putin. he is going to take to the cameras and answer some questions.

i'm not sure exactly who's speaking right now, but let's listen in and see if vladimir putin is going to take questions. >> to go back to the agreement of 21st of february. russia has promised financial help to crimea. yesterday was in order, do know much from which sources and which conditions the situation is quite difficult there. one second. when and on what conditions and how much? >> translator: can military force be applied in ukraine or how does it respond to international agreements with russia?

and to the recent exercise, does it have any relation? >> translator: are there still any provocations or any danger for the russian population in crimea? and is the dynamic positive or negative, because there are different reports? >> translator: in case you decide to bring troops, have you calculated potential risks, like economic sanctions and global danger and problems and the global isolation of russia?

>> translator: yesterday, russian markets were falling after -- and the ruble has fallen to the historic minimum. did you expect that reaction, and what consequences do you expect and what measures should be taken? do you think that the decision of central bank to free ruble course was a bit preemptive, a bit early? >> translator: i will try to answer. don't interrupt me, please. firstly, the evaluation of what has happened in kiev and in ukraine as a whole. the evaluation can be just one. it isn't anticonstitution, no coup and military seizure of power. nobody argues this. who argues this? for me, the question is, which i

cannot answer and my colleagues either, who i have been discussing the problem of ukraine over the phone. the question is as follows, why has this been done? please pay your attention president yanukovych together with three foreign ministers of poland, germany and france, in the presence of my representative -- the men of russia, they spoke and they signed between the opposition and the authorities on the 21st this very agreement, according to which, whether it is good or

bad, yanukovych has already given up his power. he agreed to everything the opposition has been wanting, for the early parliamentary elections, early presidential election, to go back to the constitution of 2004. he agreed to request of us and west not to apply force. he did not give any criminal order to shoot in the poor demonstrators. moreover, he made an order to withdraw all police forces from the capital, and they fulfilled his order. he went to farkev. as soon as he went to farkev instead of freeing the administrative buildings, they

immediately seized his presidential residence and the government building, instead of following the agreement. i want to understand why this was done. he had already given up all his power, and i told him before that he did not have any chance to be re-elected, and all my colleagues that spoke to him agreed to this. why did they need to these unconstitutional actions and bring the country into the chaos it is in now? military men are walking around kiev in masks still now. they wanted to humiliate someone or show their force. i think this is very stupid. and the result, i think, was opposite to what they expected, because these actions, they

disstabilized east and south of the country. as for the reason why the situation has arose, this was a revolutionary situation, which started from long ago since the independence of ukraine, and a simple ukrainian man was suffering always under nikolai ii and yushchenko andean kovich, and nothing has changed for the better or corruption has reached the levels you haven't even dreamed of here in russia, and such similar problems exist in our country as well. but in ukraine, it is even

squared or even cubed. and of course, people wanted changes, but you can't instigate unlawful changed on the po post-soviet territory, where the political structures are still weak under the economy, still weak. you have to act exclusively by constituti constitutional. the mistake would always to go to outside constitutional field. i understand that people, although i don't agree to the fact of the change of power in this way, i still understand the people in meydan who still

demand not just a repair the facade of the power but cardinal changes. why, then, are they demanding? because they are used to one thieves being changed for other thieves, and people in the regions don't even participate in the forming of regional authorities. we had the process of appointing regional leaders, approving by the parliament, but there, it's very different. in eastern region, they started to appoint oligarchs as local governors, and of course, people don't agree with this. they think that these people

have become rich unlawfully during unlawful ways and now they even have power. in one case, the oligarch has even cheated our oligarch, abramovich, some time ago. they have signed some contract. abramovich transferred several billion dollars, and he pocketed this money and not fulfilled the agreement. and when i asked him how he managed to do it, he said, i have no idea how it was possible. i don't know how he managed to do it or whether this deal was eventually done, but this is a real situation from three years ago, and this man has become a

governor. of course people are unhappy. they were unhappy, and they will still be unhappy if these people who call themselves legal power continue to work like this. and main thing, people have to be given the right to decide their fate and to their region's fate, and to have even rights in participating in the future of their country. as to to whether this current authorities is legitimate, the parliament, partly yes, but the rest of them are not. the executive -- the acting president, of course, is not legitimate.

the legitimate president is only yanukovych. there are just three ways to dismiss the president from power -- death, his personal request, and the third one, impeachment. impeachment is a constitutional no norm, which in constitutional court and other courts have to participate. this procedure wasn't followed. so, from the legal point of view, this is why today's authorities have decided to dismiss constitutional court, which is outside the laws of both ukraine and europe. they not just dismissed the

court, but also, they gave the order to the general prosecutor's office to start criminal proceedings against the constitutional court judges. how can you give such order? if there is some crime, the law enforcement orders have no to do themselves, but you can't give such orders. now the financial assistance to crimea. we have decided to organize the work of the russian federation. the regions, in order to provide humanitarian assistance to crimea. i can't say how much and which

sources, because regions bordering with the crimea are working on this. about the youuse of military, te is no need for this so far, but there is such a possibility. our military exercise recently were not related to the events in ukraine in any way. they were planned before. but of course, not announced, because it was -- and to the ministry of defense reported to me long ago about this directive to start this exercise. it has been finished, and yesterday i gave the order to return all the military command

to the home stations. what can cause the use of military force? of course, it is extraordinary. firstly, just legitimacy. firstly, we have a request of the legitimate president yanukovych to protect the welfare of the local population. we have neo-nazis and nazis and an an anti-seminates in some part of ukraine, including kiev. you have probably seen that one of the acting governors was

chained in a square to some building in winter. water was poured on him, then he was put in a cellar and tortured. what is this? is it democracy? is this to show democracy? by the way he was appointed quite recently in december. even if you think that all the people in the power are corrupt, he hasn't even the time to steal anything. when they seized the party of regions building, only two or three technical workers came out and said to the attackers, he said, guys, please let us out. i'm the engineer. i have nothing to do with the party of regions, he was shot straight away.

the other one was put in the cellar and burned alive by molotov cocktails. so, when we see this, we understand what the citizens of -- russian-speaking citizens of east and south of ukraine are worried about. they are worried about this unlawfulness. if we see this unlawfulness starting in the east, and if they request us for help, we leave the right for ourselves to take all measures to protect the rights of these people and we consider it quite legitimate. this is a final measure to be considered that ukraine is not our closest neighbor, but our

brother brotherly republican neighbor and our military are friends. a lot of them know each other personally, and i am sure that ukrainian troops and russian troops, they are not going to be on different sides of the barricades, but on one side of the barricades. and this unity is taking place in crimea at the moment. thank god there hasn't been a single shot and a single victim so far, apart from one, someone casualty that happened one week ago. people came to the military bases and convinced them that

they had to subordinate to the will of the civilians who live there. there hasn't been a single shot. therefore, the situation in the crimea connected to the military force was exhausted. the only thing was needed, we have fortified our troops because we saw that members of nationalist organizations were already approaching, and we -- >> all right, you've been watching russian president vladimir putin answering a series of questions, really all at once there in moscow. a strange image, the russian president sitting slouched in a chair there but delivering really a forceful opinion and

analysis of what he believes to be going on in ukraine and also in crimea, and it is at stark odds, i think, with what the rest of the world currently believes. he called what happened in kiev, the demonstrations there, an anticonstitutional coup. he said that victktor yanukovyc the now-deposed ex-leader of ukraine, is the only legitimate president of ukraine. he does not believe that the current government there is legitimate. >> that's right, and he thinks that the russian authorities and the russian military has every right to protect the russian-speaking citizens of eastern part and southern part of ukraine, and he, again, talked about how yanukovych is the only legitimate leader of that country. he said there are some members of parliament who are legitimate and there are some who are not, and that is simply the fact that he is -- that he really believes yanukovych is the only leader of the country. >> he says they are getting requests, the russians are, from people inside ukraine, for protection against what he calls neo-nazis and anti-semites that are now running rampant in ukraine.

again, our reporters on the ground in ukraine say there is no evidence of that. there is no evidence they've seen that any russian citizens or russian speakers need protection in that country. >> diana magnay is saying how calm it felt in crimea, where you have russian troops and ukrainian troops literally right next to each other and president putin saying they are on the same sides of the barricades, they are friends, they know each other and remarking that no one had been hurt by any shots so far. >> do we have phil black in moscow? all right, let's go to phil black in moscow, and let's get your interpretation on this. you've been listening to russian president vladimir putin as well. what's your take? >> reporter: well, john, i think his justification is kind of what we expected to hear, i think, because it is to some extent what we have been hearing from other russian officials. he talked about the need to go into crimea because nationalist forces were approaching. they acted just in time. and what he said there just a few moments ago, and i think this is key, is that he hopes

they don't have to do this in the east of the country as well. certainly not ruling out the possibility that russian forces could move into the east. and indeed, a few moments ago, that was the point that he made. if they recede, requests from help in the east of the country, if people there feel they are under threat from these nationalist forces that he keeps referring to, then russia believes it is legal, appropriate and right to go to the help of these people and do, in his words, use, take whatever necessary measures are indeed necessary. and really, he tied this all back to the change of government in kiev, and he said that is what has caused all of this, made it very clear that he believes that change of government is illegal, unconstitutional. he referred to it as a coup. he said the events that have taken place there, they have caused the instability, the uncertainty, the fear that now exists in the south and the east of the country, and that is why russia has taken this action. john? >> interesting. what is now called the putin doctrine, the russian president

reserving the right to go into other countries, to sovereign nations, to protect russian-speaking people, ethnic russians, people asking for his support and making clear, as you said, phil, that he reserves the right to do it again. >> and russian financial interests, let's not forget that a great deal of russian energy runs right through ukraine on its way to markets in the west. it's interesting, phil, because as well you've got markets not really moving. you've got a little bit of a recovery in the russian stock market. they think that putin is ratcheting down tensions. >> reporter: yeah, little bit of a recovery here. the russian market took a big hit yesterday. but the ruble tumbled further. it's been tumbling through the year already, hit historic lows. the market lost more than 10%. both have come back a little, but not enough to wipe out or to recover from those losses, i should say. interesting what you say there about the putin doctrine, the issue of sovereignty. he does reserve the right to cross a border into a sovereign state and do it here, but you

have to note when it comes to other issues, syria in particular, sovereignty, sovereignty, sovereignty, that is what we've heard repeatedly from vladimir putin. no one has the right to violate a country's border. in this case, he believes there is an exception. >> and if you thought that russian president vladimir putin would be backing off this morning in these statements, that did not happen at all. we will be watching them very closely to hear what else he says. we'll be right back just after this break. llergens? eww! eww! [ moderator ] how would you deal with them? umm... ninjas. [ male announcer ] no need for ninjas.

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angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. good morning. we're following major developments in the situation in ukraine. you are looking at, of course, vladimir putin. he is live in moscow, russia, right now, giving his first comments about the situation in ukraine. he is explaining the invasion of russia. he says it is not an invasion. he says that this is a savior mission for russia to go in to help people wrongfully oppressed by a coup that deposed the rightful president there and that the eastern part of ukraine is in jeopardy.

he uses the word coup. he has said during these speaks that this is a wrongful revolution. he is also providing a new potential definition of ukraine as two separate sovereigns, east versus west, and the rights of those who are being victimized there. he is also talking about sanctions that could be levied and that many people could be hurt by sanctions. also important to know, what he says is on the table going forward. >> he really is remaining steadfast. at one point saying that russia reserves the right to reserve all options if there is lawlessness in eastern ukraine. we have to understand where he could be going and moving going forward. >> he says that they are only er